IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 4,007 Shares of The Progressive Corporation $PGR

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 116,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Progressive were worth $23,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dagco Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 700.0% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Progressive by 106.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 126 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PGR. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Progressive from $331.00 to $313.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Progressive in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $216.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Progressive to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Progressive from $205.00 to $190.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Progressive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $237.37.

Progressive Stock Down 0.8%

PGR opened at $218.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.69. The Progressive Corporation has a 1-year low of $189.20 and a 1-year high of $267.00. The stock has a market cap of $127.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The insurance provider reported $4.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.67 by $0.13. Progressive had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 33.47%. The firm had revenue of $22.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Progressive Corporation will post 17.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 2nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is presently 2.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 5,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,183,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,290 shares in the company, valued at $8,258,000. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven Broz sold 1,157 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.76, for a total transaction of $236,907.32. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,633,152.36. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,230 shares of company stock valued at $3,165,817. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Progressive Company Profile

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.